Chapter 8: Humans are worse than dogs. Your hands are so white.

"Brother, I'm fine." Li Baidong took a deep breath, rested his chin on Xing Lan's shoulder, and endured the intense pain in his hand. He looked regretfully at the broken bowl and the scattered shrimp wontons on the ground. "It's just these wontons..."

"Forget about these wontons." Xing Lan's tone was unusually cold and hard as she grew anxious. "What are you still standing there for? Don't you want your hands anymore?"

Before Li Baidong could answer, he grabbed his hand, led him to the kitchen sink, turned on the tap, and continuously rinsed his reddened burns with cold water.

The wound was already painful, and being washed with a large amount of cold water only intensified the pain.

Li Baidong frowned, his eyes glistening with tears of grievance, looking pitifully at Xing Lan.

Xing Lan didn't show it on his face, but he actually felt quite guilty. After all, Li Baidong had only cooked wontons for him out of kindness and that's why he got burned. And what he stepped on was his dog's toy.

He was responsible for about 70-80% of the accident. He hates it when others get hurt because of him; he'd rather be the one who gets burned.

He turned to face Li Baidong's narrow eyes filled with tears, hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand to gently pat the man's brooding blond hair in a comforting gesture, trying to soften his tone: "Okay, stop crying... I was a little anxious just now, I didn't mean to be mean to you."

Li Baidong had pretended to cry to make Xing Lan feel more sorry for him, but now, seeing Xing Lan's furrowed brows and tense expression, he felt a little regretful.

He forced a smile and immediately changed his tune, saying, "Brother, don't worry, I'm really fine. I'm healthy and recover quickly; this little injury will heal in no time."

"If this kind of burn is not treated in time, it will get worse and worse."

Xing Lan frowned, filled the sink with cold water, gently held Li Baidong's palm, and put his scalded red hand into it. She earnestly instructed, "Soak your hand in the cold water for a while, at least ten minutes. Don't take it out before the time is up."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left. Li Baidong waited for a while, and soon saw Xing Lan come out of the room again, this time with an extra piece of gauze in her hand.

Give me your hand.

Li Baidong obediently raised his hand, letting Xing Lan cover the wound on the back of his hand with a clean white gauze and patiently bandage it. Although her technique was a bit clumsy, the slightly warm fingertips were like a swaying fox tail, constantly tickling Li Baidong's heart.

Li Baidong stared intently at Xing Lan's slender, fair hands as she moved them slightly, and suddenly laughed without a care in the world.

"...What are you laughing at?" Xing Lan had never seen someone who was injured and could still laugh like an idiot before, and she looked up at Li Baidong with suspicion.

"Brother, your hands are so white," Li Baidong said sincerely.

"...What nonsense are you talking about?" Xing Lan gave him a warning look. "Doesn't your hand hurt anymore?"

Li Baidong could clearly hear a hint of shyness hidden in his tone, and was immediately charmed by his cuteness, smiling and squinting his eyes.

Xing Lan originally just wanted to eat a bowl of noodles and go to sleep, but she didn't expect to end up not eating the noodles, spilling the wontons, and having an extra pitiful wounded person waiting to be taken care of at home.

Xing Lan went downstairs to the store in the middle of the night to buy burn ointment, and when she came back she applied it to Li Baidong. After all that fuss, it was almost dawn.

This burn ointment has a strong odor. After applying it, Li Baidong felt like he had become a walking Chinese medicine.

In order to avoid the pungent smell affecting Xing Lan, he consciously planned to stay away from Xing Lan when he went to sleep at night.

But just as he was about to hug his pillow and snuggle to the edge of the bed, Xing Lan noticed him keenly.

"Why are you sleeping so close to me?" he questioned.

Li Baidong shook his injured hand in the darkness and said innocently, "This medicine has a very strong smell. I'm afraid it will make you uncomfortable."

Xing Lan glanced at him and said in a flat tone, "It's nothing, come here."

“Brother…” Li Baidong hesitated.

"Article 7 of the contract states that you must listen to me regarding sleeping arrangements at night," Xing Lan emphasized coldly.

Li Baidong paused for a moment, then immediately hugged his pillow and rolled back inside.

After spending these days together, Li Baidong noticed that Xing Lan was very cold during the day. Even when she occasionally showed concern for him, it was always insincere, like a proud and aloof cat who only paid attention to people when she felt like it.

But at night, she becomes incredibly clingy, unwilling to let him leave her side for even a second. She even asks for details before he goes to the bathroom, and sometimes urges him to finish quickly.

Li Baidong didn't know why, but he enjoyed Xing Lan's subtle dependence on him, so he deliberately didn't say anything.

Xing Lan closed her eyes, quietly feeling the warmth emanating from Li Baidong's side as he approached. The boy was like an inextinguishable sun, bringing warmth and reassurance to the dark night.

"Does your hand still hurt?" Xing Lan asked in the silence.

“A little,” Li Baidong said honestly.

The air was filled with a lingering, faint smell of ointment, and Li Baidong's occasional soft moans of discomfort.

Xing Lan thought for a moment, then suddenly grabbed his wrist in the dark.

Li Baidong froze, and turned his head to look in the dim moonlight outside the window. He saw Xing Lan place his hand to her lips, lower her eyelashes, and gently blow on it.

Li Baidong's wrist trembled slightly, and he felt a tingling sensation throughout his body, as if all the blood in his body rushed to one place.

Xing Lan raised her eyes and stared straight at him. Her eyes were long and bright, with dark pupils.

Although his gaze was pure and showed no intention of seducing anyone, it made Li Baidong's mouth go dry, as if the scalding soup had burned not his hands, but his throat and heart.

Xing Lan stared at his hand and asked, "Is it better?"

"Much better... much better."

Li Baidong calmed himself down, trying to steady his racing heart, and said with some difficulty.

He licked his dry lips and nervously withdrew his hand.

Xing Lan glanced at him and keenly noticed that Li Baidong's body suddenly became very stiff for a moment, and his movements were slow, as if he was hiding some inappropriate reaction.

He didn't think much of it, assuming the kid had just injured his hand and wasn't used to sleeping well.

-

Li Baidong woke up late the next day.

When Xing Lan woke up, he saw Li Baidong with his back to him, trying hard to button up his shirt.

Even the slightest bend of his finger would pull on the wound on the back of his hand, causing him to wince in pain. He struggled intermittently with the slippery buttons for a long time, almost making him late for class.

Xing Lan glanced at him and sat up from the bed.

Li Baidong was looking down when he suddenly felt a pair of beautiful, delicate hands come around from behind him. With light and quick movements, they fastened the buttons on his chest in no time.

Li Baidong's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Xing Lan.

"Thank you, brother."

Xing Lan had just woken up, and her hair was a little messy, but under the dappled morning light, the messiness had a certain beauty.

Her features were still exquisitely perfect, her skin was very fair, and her skin looked especially radiant after just waking up.

He lay on the edge of the bed, like a mermaid leaning against a rock, half-awake, staring intently at Li Baidong in front of him, his expression indifferent, making Li Baidong inexplicably nervous.

"What's wrong, bro?"

Xing Lan remained quiet for a while before slowly waking up from her drowsy state. She coughed lightly and sat up in bed, her expression regaining its usual calm.

"It's nothing. Wait for me a moment, I'll go buy you breakfast."

Xing Lan quickly tidied herself up in the bathroom, put on a coat, and went downstairs to the breakfast shop.

He didn't know what Li Baidong liked to eat, so he just bought a little bit of everything and took the elevator back.

While waiting for the elevator, Xing Lan glanced at her phone and happened to see her father's new post on WeChat Moments.

Xing Lan and his father only added each other on WeChat in the last two years after his grandfather fell ill. Because his father rarely posts on WeChat Moments, Xing Lan forgot to block him.

Xing Yi: [Congratulations to our little Chen'er on winning the third prize in the citywide children's Rubik's Cube competition! Mom and Dad wish you happiness every day! (Sun) (Celebrating)]

Two pictures were attached to the text.

One of the photos is a solo picture of his youngest son, Xing Chen. The short, chubby little boy stands in the large courtyard of his villa, proudly raising the third-place trophy in his hand.

The other photo is a family portrait taken by the three of them at a well-known photo studio.

The three people in the photo are wearing matching outfits and smiling happily at the camera. Their overflowing happiness can be felt even through the screen.

Xing Lan hadn't seen his father in a long time. Seeing his recent photo on her phone this morning gave her a feeling of both familiarity and strangeness.

His father is not young, but he is still very energetic and his hair is not white. I don't know if it is naturally like this or if he dyed it in advance for the camera.

Third prize.

Third place.

In a competition that wasn't particularly professional or difficult, Xing Chen only managed to get third place.

Xing Lan carefully examined the words above, zooming in again and again to confirm that he had not misread them.

He remembered that when he was in elementary school, he once had a high fever and performed poorly in a midterm exam, ending up second in the class. His father beat him 22 times with a poplar wood cane and punished him by not letting him eat for two whole days.

He said he wanted Xing Lan to always remember the number "two" and the feeling of being second.

When eight-year-old Xing Lan knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, begging Xing Yi for some food because he was starving, Xing Yi merely glanced at him coldly, smiled, and then turned his head away to continue watching the news on television.

Xing Lan remembers that Xing Yi was watching a local channel at that time. The reporter was visiting a poor village where the children had to walk a long way to school every day, and many of them didn't even have a pair of shoes to wear.

Xing Yi looked at the news, shook his head and sighed, saying, "What a tragedy." Then he said to Xing Lan, "Compared to them, your life is so much better."

"With such good conditions, you should work harder, get into a good university when you grow up, find a good job, and not bring shame to our family."

Xing Lan thought that he remembered the number two, and he remembered that he should work hard and climb the ladder when he grew up, but Xing Yi himself had forgotten.

Xing Chen is not number one, Xing Chen doesn't need to be number one.

"Ding." The elevator arrived at the floor and the doors opened.

Xing Lan lowered her eyes, her expression not changing much, but her face seemed a few shades paler than before.

He turned off his phone screen, picked up his breakfast, and stepped out of the elevator.

-

"I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought a little bit of everything." Xing Lan casually placed the breakfast on the table and said to Li Baidong, "Eat up."

Li Baidong peeked out and first saw a lot of hot breakfast items in the bag, then he looked at Xing Lan next to him.

For some reason, he felt that Xing Lan had been somewhat absent-minded ever since she bought breakfast.

It's probably just his imagination.

"Thanks, brother." Li Baidong reached out and grabbed two steamed buns.

Xing Lan pulled out a chair and sat down opposite Li Baidong, and began to eat breakfast as well.

He bought two boiled eggs, peeled one and put it in his bowl, but didn't eat it. He quickly started peeling the second one.

Li Baidong chewed on the bun in his mouth, raised his eyes, and looked at him expectantly like a puppy.

Xing Lan is actually tough on the outside but soft on the inside. When she saw that his hand was injured, she even peeled an egg for him to eat. It was so heartwarming.

Under his ardent and expectant gaze, Xing Lan quickly peeled the second egg, then lowered her eyes and called out, "Little Prince."

The little prince came running over, wagging his tail. Xing Lan carefully removed the egg white and then tossed the yolk to him.

Li Baidong: "..."

Humans are worse off than dogs.

A note from the author:

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